Stamp-affixer.



A. HALL.

STAMP AFFIXER.

APPLICATION FILED Nov. 28, 1910.

1,065,043, Patented June 17, 1913.

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COLUMBIA PLANoumu u C0 WASHINGTON, D c.

ALFRED HALL, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO.

STAMP-AFFIXEB.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 17, 1913.

Application filed November 28, 1910. Serial No. 594,439.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ALFRED HALL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cleve land, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Stamp-Aflixers, of which the following is a full, clear, and ex act description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

The object of this invention is to provide a very simple and cheap device for afiixing stamps to envelops, packages, etc.

My invention provides a portable hand tool adapted to carry stamps, either in a roll or a straight row, which tool has means for feeding the stamps, as desired, and suitable moistening means to enable their con venient affixing.

The invention is hereinafter more fully explained and its characteristics set out in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of my stamp aflixer; Fig. 2 is a longi tudinal section of the same; Fig. 3 is a plan; Fig. 4: is a front elevation; Fig. 5 is a vertical section through the delivery rolls; Fig. 6 is a vertical section through the roll holder.

Referring to the parts shown in the drawings, 10 represents a suitable handle, which has secured to it, along its under side and spaced from it, a suitable stamp support 11. This support is in the form of a plate having turned up edge flanges 12, whereby a shallow trough is provided for guiding a row of stamps. At its ends the plate is turned upwardly, as shown at 13 and 1-1, such turned up portions being secured to the handle by screws 15 and 16. Suitable open ings 17 and 18 in the turned up portions allow the passage of a row of stamps inclicated by 20.

To conveniently feed forward stamps supported in a row on the support referred to, I provide the feeding rolls 30 and 31. These rolls are mounted at the sides 32 of a sheet metal box or frame which has a back plate 33 secured to the rest of the tool, preferably by the same screws 15 which hold the stamp support and handle together. The lower roll 30 has an axle 35 journaled with usual closeness in the frame plates 32 while the roller 31 has its axle 37 occupying enlarged openings in the side plates 32 so that this roller 31 bears by gravity against the roller 30.

The row of stamps passes through the opening 17 and opening 39 in the rear plate 33 of the front frame and thence passes between the rolls 30 and 31 and beneath the guide 40. The surfaces of the rolls 30 and 31 are roughened or knurled in sect-ions, as shown in the drawings, and in this manner obtain a firm hold on the stamps. To feed forward the stamps it is simply necessary, for the operator to turn with his thumb the upper roller 31, thus pushing out the fore most stamp, as shown in dotted lines in Figs. 2 and 3'. When he desires to tear off the stamp, a simple holding of the thumb pressure on the roller 31 causes it to act as a brake, so that the stamp may be easily torn off at the perforations.

To moisten the envelop or other article on which the stamp is to be affixed, I provide a moistening wick 50, which stands in a receptacle 51, which has a drawer-like engagement with the under side of the front frame, and I provide a reservoir 53 which, communicates with the wick receptacle. As shown, the receptacle has outwardly extendng edge-flanges 54.- which engages above inwardly turned edge flanges 55 of the side plates. The bottom plate 56 of the front frame makes a top for the wick receptacle. The reservoir communicates with this receptacle by the passageway 57. This reservoir is shown as closed by a suitable cork or a plug 58. The forward portion of the wick 50 overhangs the inclined front wall 59 of the receptacle, as shown in Fig. 2 and furnishes convenient means for moistening the envelop.

In use, the operator takes hold of the handle 10, resting his thumb on the roller 31. He then tips up the rear end of the tool so that the face 59 is approximately parallel with the surface of the envelop and, draws the tool along the envelop, moistening the spot where the stamp is to go by means of the overhanging portion of the wick 50. At the same time, he rotates with his thumb the roller 31 by moving his thumb toward the handle 10, thereby moving forwardly the co-acting portions of the two rolls and feeding out a stamp beneath the guide 4-0. Accordingly, after a space on the envelop about the size of a stamp has been moistened, the fed stamp will stand just above it and it is only necessary for the operator, with his other hand, to press down the stamp on the moistened space, at the same time tearing it from the following stamp at the perforations, the following stamps being held by the rollers under thumb pressure, which now act as a brake. This operation may be carried on with great rapidity.

In the foregoing description I have assumed that the stamps lie in a row extending along the support 11. If desired, a single straight row may be thus held. It is convenient, however, to employ a roll. of stamps to obviate the necessity of continually supplying the tool. For this purpose, I provide a roll holder which will now be described.

The roll holder consists of a case 60 and a cover therefor 61, suitable inwardly projecting central supports 62 and G3 on the casing cover for journaling the roll of stamps, and means for supporting the case on the handle frame. As shown, the case and cover are of sheet metal, the cover being flanged over the case. They may have a bayonet fastening, as indicated at 64: provided by a dent or outward projection on the case cooperating with an L-shaped recess in the cover flange. The central supports 62 and 63 may be conveniently made by pressing inwardly the sheet metal of the case and cover. To hold the case, I provide a block 65 secured to the case and having a flaring inner end which has a dove-tailed seat on the frame, this dove-tail being provided by flanging the plate 14:, as shown at 67 and turning out a lip, as shown at 68. A suitable opening 69 through the cylindrical wall of the case allows for the passage of stamps.

It will be seen that my roll holder is con venient and out of the way. It may easily be adapted to carry a roll of five hundred or more stamps. hen used, it is very easy to thread the stamps through the tool, simply passing them through the openings 69, 18, 17 and between the rolls and beneath the guide 40. If, however, the stamps are used in straight strips, the roll holder may be removed by sliding its block out of the dovetail 67, then the stamps may be simply threaded through the openings 18 and 17 and the excess of stamps allowed to hang idly at the end, or, if desired, the stamps, in this case, need not be carried by the support 11, but may stand beneath it and pass to the rolls through the opening 39 beneath the front end of the support 11, a space 4-2 being provided for this purpose.

The reservoir is preferably designed to hold sufficientliquid to moisten the entire roll of stamps which may be carried in the case. The wick having only its forward overhanging edge exposed, very little liquid is lost by evaporation. Accordingly, my tool, loaded with a roll of five hundred stamps and with its reservoir filled, is ready for applying stamps at all times until the entire roll has been applied.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is 1. In a stamp aflixer, the combination of a handle, a frame at the forward end thereof, a pair of feeding rolls carried by the frame, a moistening device carried by the frame below the feeding rolls, and a stamp support beneath the handle and adapted to support a row of stamps passing between the feeding rolls.

2. In a stamp aflixer, the combination of a handle, a stamp supportbeneath the same, a roll holder at the rear end of the handle, a feeding device at the forward end of the handle, and a moistening device below the feeding device and in front thereof.

3. In a stamp aflixer, the combination of a handle, a stamp support extending lengthwise of the same, a roll support at the rear of the handle, a pair of feeding rolls at the forward end of the handle, and a moistening device below the feeding rolls and exposed at its front end.

4:. The combination of a handle, a stamp support along the same, a pair of feeding rolls adjacent to the forward end of the handle, a wick receptacle below the rolls, a wick exposed at its front edge in said receptacle, and a reservoir for said receptacle.

5. In a stamp aiiixer, the combination of a handle, a plate secured to the ends thereof and extending intermediately lengthwise of the handle and flanged atits edges to provide a stamp trough, a sheet metal frame at the forward end of such device having a pair of feeding rolls, one above the other, and a wick receptacle having a drawer-like engagement with said forward frame beneath the rolls.

6. In a stamp afiixer, the combination of a handle, a stamp support extending lengthwise thereof, a feeding device, a forwardly exposed moistener adjacent to the under forward end of the device, and a holder for a roll of stamps, said holder having a movable engagement with the rear end of the handle.

7 In a stamp aflixer, the combination of a handle, a stamp support comprising a plate having flanged edges and up-turned ends which are secured to opposite ends of the handle, there being apertures through suchupturned ends, a roll holder secured to the handle near the rear end and having an orifice adjacent to the rear aperture of said support, a feeding frame at the forward end of the handle having an orifice adjacent to the aperture at the forward end of the support, said feeding frame having a pair of rollers, one surmounting the other and the upper roller resting by gravity on the lower roller and having a roughened surface whereby it may be held by the thumb of the hand grasping the handle, and a wick receptacle having a sliding engagement with such front support and carrying a wick with an overhanging front end, and a reservoir for the wick receptacle.

8. In a stamp affixer, the combination of a handle, a stamp support carried thereby, a roll holder comprising a sheet metal case and a cover, said case and cover each having central inwardly forced projections adapted to make a bearing for the roll of stamps, stamp-feeding rolls at the forward end of the device, and an exposed wick below the rolls.

9. The combination of a stamp support, a feeding device at the forward end thereof, a wick receptacle below the feeding device having its front inclined upwardly, and a wick in said receptacle forwardly overhanging such inclined front, and exposed at the forward edge.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto aflix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

ALFRED HALL.

Witnesses:

XV. DUNLor, ALBERT H. BATES.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

